


Their daring, nerve, and criminality set these Gryffindors apart

by Robin11



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Rivalry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-14 10:22:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28669167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Robin11/pseuds/Robin11
Summary: Muggle Au, Lily and James are journalists working for the Gryffindor Branch at Hogwarts. They are sworn enemies and rivals in their job, but what happens when a scandal erupts, and they have to do the one thing they hated the most in order to save their jobs? Work together. Dorcas and Mary relationship very briefly focused on. It was a one-shot so I couldn't develop it properly but will do so in other works!
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Mary Macdonald/Dorcas Meadowes
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	Their daring, nerve, and criminality set these Gryffindors apart

At the end of the day there was nothing Lily hated more than him. The way his hair flopped over his forehead and brushed the top of his glasses; the way his mouth curved when he had the last word and she could think of no rebuttal; the way his eyes flashed as they drank her in, storming and raging as she was wont to do; the way they followed her throughout the day, the little bits of gold glinting in the reflection of the light; the way he turned when the building fell; the way his first thought was of her safety...

Snarling she pushed the thought away. It was a stupid stupid thing to reflect on the past. So what if he'd had bricks fall on his arm because he pushed her out of the way? So what if his whole injury was basically her fault and today was the first day he was back at work and she was shitting herself? So what if she had to be nice to him from now on because he'd quite literally taking a building for her. Perhaps that was what she hated most of all, how now he had made it impossible for her to be anything other than grateful, the snivelling bastard. He had no right to turn back and look for her. Who did he think he was? Prince fucking Charming? 

She slammed the door to her car shut, (perhaps a little more violently than necessary) and quickly checked her face in the reflection of the window. A rather pinched expression stared defiantly back at her, which she made an effort to smooth out as, pulling down her skirt, she walked out of the car park towards the building. 

Breathe in, breathe out Lils; she pressed the button to the elevator, jiggling her keys in her hands impatiently. Would his arm still be in a cast? She'd been to visit him a couple of times since it had happened, but he was always sleeping, and completely bandaged up. After he regained consciousness and was taking visitors she stopped coming, she didn't want to stress him out while he was healing. A little niggling voice in the back of her mind told her it was also because she was guilty, and because he could have died. And if he had died the last thing he would have heard was 'Sod off you cow, I can walk by myself'. She winced at the memory, why was she such a dick? Was it so hard for her to display common decency when someone was trying to stop her from dying. Well, normally it wasn't, she reasoned as she stepped into the empty elevator and cast her eyes up, waiting for it to start rising; it was just him. With him it was different. There was something about him that she couldn't quite put her finger on, but it was annoying. Something that burrowed itself deep in her soul and started poking at her until she wanted to scream. He was always able to find her buttons and took obvious delight in pushing them. She supposed he fancied he knew her through and through, and that the thought delighted him. What an asshole. NO. No, come on Lily. Be nice. Not an asshole. Just someone very, very deluded. Groaning she massaged her forehead, she was not off to a great start.

The elevator doors slid open, revealing the office in front of her. Alice was at the front desk, calmly tucking her hair behind her ear as she dealt with the antics of Lockhart, who apparently had been waiting for too long without being 'served'. Catching her eye, Lily gave a guilty little wave: Lockhart had been his project, now hers because she had offered to pick up all his work for the time that he was out 'guilty' the little voice sang in her ear again before she crushed it. Back to the irritating matter at hand, who arrived before the interviewer did? It was just the sort of ridiculousness Lily really didn't feel like dealing with today, especially with his arrival.  
But, he was her responsibility, and she didn't want poor Alice to have to pick up her slack because she was too busy struggling with a petty rivalry. Alice smiled gratefully as she noticed her coming closer, 'Look,' she said brightly, 'There is one of our star reporters now. She will take perfect care of you sir.' Before Lockhart could open his mouth Lily hurried to cut in, 'Yes, so sorry for the wait. If you would be so kind as to follow me Mr Lockhart.' He glanced at her briefly once, before the expression of exasperation slid from his face and a too-bright smile took its place. Goodness, why did he have so many teeth? She was sorely tempted to count them, certain he had a few more than the average person before she realised that he could take that as her staring at him. Eyes widening she immediately rectified her mistake by turning and leading him to the corner of the building, where three lime chairs had been set out with a platter of biscuits. Her stomach grumbled at the sight and blushing quickly, she darted a glance to make sure he hadn't noticed, before clenching her jaw. She'd skipped breakfast due to her nervousness, and was now very clearly paying the price for it. Why her stomach couldn't be content without breakfast for one sodding day she didn't know but it was in her interest to get something in her stomach quickly before Lockhart, or even he could notice. 

Plastering a smile on her face she gestured towards the chairs, 'If you would please wait for just a moment, I shall be back with all my materials.' A dazzling smile answered her and she had bite the insides of her cheeks to keep herself from laughing. Focus Lily. Get the food. Smiling in what she hoped was a pleasant and charming way she slipped around the corner and to her office. Where somebody already sat. Crap.

The chair behind her desk swivelled around, and a crooked grin lit up the face of James Fleamont Potter, back from the hospital. 'Evans.' The glee in his voice was unmistakeable. As she had suspected, his arm was in a cast, causing her stomach to clench when she looked at it. His face was a little scratched but all in all he seemed fully healed, and the grin had certainly not been damaged. Ok. This was her moment. Be nice Lily, be courteous and ask him how he's doing, if he's fully healed, anything really. 'Why are you in my chair?' Ok not that. Inwardly cursing her stupid mouth for talking without her permission she failed to notice how his face grew even brighter and he shifted in the seat, 'It's very comfortable.'  
'I know that. It's-'  
'-your chair, yes, I am aware.' Smothering a sarcastic reply about property and capitalistic rights she said,  
'Lockhart's already here. I need to get to work.' His eyebrows shot up,  
'Rather chipper isn't he?'  
'He's got one too many teeth,'  
'What?' He looked at her quizzically. Blushing she muttered,  
'Nevermind.'  
'I never knew you to be an enthusiast of orthodontics,'  
'We really don't have time for this,'  
'Tell me, how do my teeth hold up against the standards of the great Lily Evans?'  
'it's not your teeth that's the problem, it's your big fat mouth.' Nice one Evans. Really go for the kill there as he sits in the chair, sporting the physical evidence that he saved your life. He didn't seem too fazed however, just tilted his head, 'At the hospital they told me the only thing unhealed was my arm. My mouth, funnily enough, they thought was fine. Perhaps they haven't studied as long as you. Tell me, what school did you go to again?'  
'The school where they teach you to shut up Potter, I'm guessing you didn't attend.' Grinning, he inspected his fingernails,  
'As a matter of fact, no I didn't. You haven't seemed to benefit too much from their teachings though, so I assume I didn't miss much.' Smiling toothily she leaned forward with her hands on the desk, he mimicked her stance until she could count all the hints of gold in his hazel eyes-asshole. 'There was one thing I did learn there,'  
'Oh?' A maleficent light shone in his eyes as they locked onto hers, the hairs on her arm stood on end as she leaned in even closer, barely moving her lips as she whispered,  
'How to dismantle a prick,' A huff of a laugh escaped his mouth as he pushed his glasses up his nose with one finger and with a raised eyebrow, invited her to continue,  
'You see, first you go for the balls, really make sure he can never have-'  
'-Children!' Both their heads swivelled to see Sirius Black, Potter's emotional support animal, who didn't even work there for the record, saunter in with an iced coffee in one hand, a bagel in the other. At the sight of their position, so close to each other over the desk he raised an eyebrow, 'Is it finally happening? Do we need to go over the importance of putting a sock or a tie around the door handle?' Irritation prickling her skin, she pushed off from the table and scowled at him,  
'Sod off Black,'  
'Actually,' Black interjected, smirking at Potter, 'It's 'sod off you cow, I can walk by myself'.' He took a sip from his coffee, slurping triumphantly as a stone dropped in Lily's stomach. Right. Swallowing, she turned to Potter. 'Look, I'm really so-' He waved her off,  
'Water under the bridge Evans, now, do I have a Lockhart to attend to or not?' Coughing back her discomfort Lily said,  
'Um, I do.' Potter stared at her uncomprehending, Black chose at that moment to seat himself by shoving a stack of books to the floor and taking their chair, taking her attention away from him for a second, 'Hey, do you mind?'  
'I'm sorry, were they important?' he asked innocently and she growled at him. Jumping a foot in the air he shot his accomplice a look, 'Blimey Prongs, what did you say to her? She's not normally this prickly.' Potter shot him a confused look,  
'I'm sorry, were you ever here without me?'  
'Of course, I came by every morning on my walk when they were checking your vitals.' Almost without meaning to, Potter's eyes drifted to hers for confirmation, and suppressing a sigh she answered, 'Unfortunately, I can attest to that. He brought us doughnuts,' Speaking of doughnuts, her stomach growled at the sound, but none of the men seemed to hear her. Potter was more occupied by this new piece of information, 'I'm sorry mate, you came here to bring by doughnuts?'  
'Why wouldn't I?'  
'You don't work here,' Lily and Potter said simultaneously, then caught each other's eye. Potter offered a grin, which Lily turned away from.  
'Anyway, I have a job to do, so kindly vacate my office and be on your merry way back to the hospital.' Potter stretched out his back as Black's smile grew large enough to envelop his face, and he surreptitiously drew out his phone to catch whatever was going to happen next. 'I'm not going back to the hospital Evans.' Lily blinked,  
'I'm sorry, what?'  
'I'm not going back.' Snarling at the way he drew out each word slowly she snapped,  
'I got that, thank you. What I meant is why not?'  
'I've been discharged, to the disappointment of many young nurses I may add-'  
'-You're not supposed to be back for another week,' she cut him off, ignoring his mutter of 'rude'.  
'You should know better Evans, you're cut from the same cloth. Nothing was going to stop him from getting back to work as soon as possible.' Lily glared at the man who quickly dropped his phone onto his lap, 'We are not- It doesn't matter. You're not supposed to be back. It's not healthy,'  
'I broke my arm Evans, I'd hardly qualify going back to work early unhealthy,'  
'You had a concussion and bruised ribs.'  
'Yes I did, and now they've healed, just like my sodding arm hopefully will soon. So please, can you give me the file with Lockhart's information? I assume he's getting rather antsy waiting.' Snatching it from her desk, Lily held it close to her chest,  
'You need another week,' she said, feeling like a broken record. But for some reason something in her refused to let him come back. Probably because she loathed him so much. Potter gave her an oddly amused look, 'I appreciate the concern for my well-being, but really there's no need to worry.' This wasn't right, it just couldn't be happening. 'Well, McGonagall gave me the Lockhart job, so I guess you'll have to sit idly by today.' She moved to leave but Potter got there first, moving surprisingly fast for someone just discharged from bed rest, 'That's all very well, but that was only in my absence. Thankfully it was short-lived, and now the job goes back to me.' He held out his hand for it, and Lily's eye fell on his cast again, her stomach lurched uncomfortably. Breakfast. Why had she skipped breakfast? 'I don't think so Potter, I've done so much work on this case, it was barely started when you got injured. It's mine by every right.' He was frowning now, and tugged at his hair with one hand,  
'Evans come on, I appreciate you stepping in but I worked my ass off to get that job. I plan to see it through,'  
'Well I'm not giving it up.'  
'Neither am I.' He jutted his chin stubbornly, and although she only came up to about his chin, she could match his obstinacy with plenty of her own, and she gazed up at him defiantly. Silently they battled each other with their gazes, neither stepping aside or flinching at anything else, not even Black's obnoxiously loud slurping as he tried to get the last drop through the carmine straw. 'Get out of my way Potter.' He looked at her very seriously,  
'No.'  
This stand-off could have lasted hours, as it once had a few years ago when she'd first started working here, and there was only one packet of crisps left in the vending machine. They'd ended up staying overtime, and only with the building closing had they finally had to give up, and Lily had to deal with Marlene's angry texts asking her whether she had been murdered and if she had to start reserving a plot for her pitiful burial. The next day when they'd both arrived at the same time, the crisps were gone, and to this day Lily was still fuming about it, certain that he'd somehow gotten there first. Fortunately, McGonagall was not absent today, and unconsciously interrupted their battle by swinging the door open. Both Potter and Lily jumped back, and for some stupid reason, Lily hid the file behind her back like McGonagall was her teacher and had caught her out. 

'Can someone tell me why Lockhart has been sitting and waiting for ten minutes now?' Her eyes cut at both her employees, who hastened to explain,  
'The account was given to me-'  
'-was out for so long I almost finished it-'  
'-won't give it to me-'  
'-refuses to give in-'  
'-I've had it for weeks now-'  
'-come on, just got back-'  
'-no one works as hard-'  
'-no one works as hard as-'  
'Enough.' Both fell silent, moodily shooting the other one glares as she shut her eyes exasperatedly. 'Honestly, I can't believe I'm saying this. But it's such an important account it's probably best if you both work on it.' Lily's mouth dropped open, and she wasn't the only one. Black's empty coffee cup clattered against the floor. Lily Evans and James Potter were not allowed to work together. It was one of the rules that had been established less than a week after Lily arrived. It apparently hadn't taken them long to find out how much they despised each other. It was probably the only rule in the office that was actually listened to. Evans and Potter could have 'friendly (not really) rivalries', they could go up against each other for jobs, they could work with anyone else in the office. But together was not permitted. Never permitted. It was one of the things Lily depended on. No matter how insufferable he was, she would never have to properly work with him. The snarky visits to her desk now and then, the stealing in front of her in the cafeteria line or eating lunch with her just to gloat, she could deal with as it came in small doses. She was safe, it was what she was used to. And now less than two seconds Potter was back and making a mess out of everything. What an insufferable prat. 'You can't be serious,' she spluttered, hastily adding, 'No disrespect meant,' at McGonagall's raised eyebrow, 'It's just. That's the first office rule.' Touching a hand to her forehead, McGonagall sighed,  
'I am well aware of that. I drafted it myself. But you both have equal claims to the case, and it's very important. Besides, you should be old enough now to put your differences aside for the sake of your profession.' Potter gaped at her,  
'You're not a fish, close your mouth,' she snapped, 'Now go and see to Mr Lockhart before he leaves and this conversation won't matter anyway...Now,' she snapped at their wide eyed stares. It shocked Lily back to attention, and nodding she picked up the pen pot from her desk, deciding she needed everything. 'Of course, come on ...Potter,' her lips curled distastefully around the word, 'Let's go.' She rushed out of the room, McGonagall's words ringing in her ears, 'And Black once again, if you do not work here, you are not permitted to be here during work hours.'

'My apologies, I wasn't expecting my colleague to be going us here today, and needed to have his presence verified,' Lily flashed a smile, to which Lockhart, who had been moodily lounging on the chair, sat up pertly and nodded enthusiastically. 'Of course, of course.' Lily took the first seat, and ignoring Potter's huff of annoyance in having to walk around her to get to the other chair, opened her notebook. 'So, shall we begin?' Lockhart clapped his hands together expectantly. 

'What a ponce.' Lily glared at Potter, who had hurried to catch up to her after the mind numbingly boring first interview,  
'Yes well, it's important to write this up, he's very successful.'  
'Yes, I know.' Flashing her a cheesy grin and making his voice absurdly deep, Potter mimicked, 'I was the only man to ever be awarded the 'Mrs' Monthly' most charming smile award five times in a row.' Suppressing a smirk, Lily rounded the corner to her office,  
'Be fair Potter, he is the youngest man to be awarded an Order of Merlin,'  
'Yeah, third class.'  
'I'm sorry, how many Order of Merlins have you been awarded?' Grumbling, Potter stuck his hand in his pocket,  
'It's not even an important distinction anyway.' Lily scoffed,  
'It means he's done countless hero-'  
'-I know what it means,' he said irritably.  
'I'm not done Potter.' Blushing, he shut his mouth,  
'It means he's saved countless people, and maybe they were in remote villages and the problem would have been solved by any bloke with a gun. But he was there. He was the one who killed the bears and wolves and saved children from that well. He's a hero Potter, insufferable prat or no.'  
'Yeah, well.' She smiled without her teeth, satisfied at having successfully shut him up. Her triumph didn't last long sadly, as he followed her to her office.  
'What are you doing?' He made a big show of looking around him as she silently counted to ten in her head, and wondered what the statute of limitations was for someone who'd saved your life. Could you murder them immediately or would you have to wait half a decade or so? 'I'm your partner Evans, no?' Gritting her teeth at the double meaning of that word she managed to get out, 'Yes...so?'  
'So...we need to write it up.' Oh no. That was not happening. They'd had a fairly civil interview, mostly because Lockhart had done his best to ignore Potter even existed and focused all his attentions on her, and she didn't really need to address him at all. But writing together? Critiquing on word choices and sentence structures and what information to even put into the article? Summoning her sweetest and gentlest voice she clasped her hands tighter on her notebook, 'Look, I think we'd just get in each other's way. How about we copy down the information and each write up one, and then just send them both to McGonagall and let her decide?' Potter snorted,  
'If that's what you want Evans.' Pleased at his response, her next smile seemed more genuine, and it made him stand a little straighter for some reason,  
'Good, it's too important an account after all.' He nodded and she waited. Awkwardly. He wasn't moving. Forcing her hand out, she said, 'Well, have a good one.' He looked a little amused but shook her hand nonetheless. 'Alright Evans, I'd better be getting home anyway. When's the deadline?' The prick had fought her for the account and didn't even know when the fucking deadline was. Suppressing her eye roll she said, 'Friday at six.' He nodded, then held out his hand again. Confused, Lily held hers out as well and he laughed. Stung, she withdrew it quickly, 'I wanted the notebook Evans, to copy?' Right. Of course he did. Flushing, she handed hers over and he leant it on the desk, his eyes scanning her notes for things he hadn't written in his. Taking out a chewed pen he quickly scrawled down a few things, then moved to the right and started accosting her own perfect notebook with his loopy script. 'Um.' His head raised at the alarm in her tone, and he cracked a grin,  
'Calm down Evans, I'm just adding things you missed. So we're on the same page and all that.'  
'I didn't miss anything.' She didn't know why she said it, maybe because there was something innate in her that couldn't be nice to him,  
'Course you did,' he responded cheerfully, apparently used to her utter lack of maturity or decorum. Something twinged inside her at that thought. 'When you were making eyes at him. You can't be expected to flirt and write at the same time.' Anger went to her head like alcohol on an empty stomach,  
'Excuse you? I was not flirting with him.' His eyes widened behind his glasses,  
'I mean, you were. But for the story. I get it, I do it too.' Leaning forward, trying not to notice the way his eyes crept up her face and down again, stopping at her lips, she snatched the notebook back, causing a great black line to score across the page from where Potter hadn't lifted his pen from the paper yet. Great. 'Unlike you Potter,' her voice was honey, dripping through the words and seeping themselves into her tone, 'I don't need to flirt with someone to get my job done. It's called being friendly. I don't expect you to notice what it's like though, as you have never incited that particular feeling with me.' He quirked an eyebrow, apparently retaining the ability to be a toe rag even as flustered as he was, 'What feelings have I incited then, Lily?' She jerked back at the use of her first name. Forgetting the game, she closed the notebook and turned her back on him, ignoring the way it made her heart race. Stupid fucking Potter and his ways of getting under her skin. 'Nausea mostly. Now I have a job to do.' And without looking at him, or thinking about the fact that the only reason she even had this case was because of his sacrifice, one he made for her, she pushed him out of her office and firmly shut the door, resolved to write the best damn article she'd ever written, so that she'd never have to work with that prat ever again in her life. 

It had taken her all night and four cups of something that Marlene dubiously called 'Awake juice' which Lily had never really asked how to make, as she'd rather not know. But she'd done it. The article was a masterpiece, even if she did say so herself. After she'd finished she'd shaken the groggy Marlene awake, who, even in her lethargic state admitted that it was really interesting, despite personally hating the bloke. Marlene's boyfriend Jake agreed as well, when he swung by in the morning to have breakfast with them and so it was with high spirits that Lily waited in the elevator, humming a tune and ready to hand the report in two days early, when the doors opened and she was face to face with a grim Dumbledore. 

This wasn't good. Dumbledore never came down to the branches unless it was for something really important. He was the head of Hogwarts, the newspaper she and Potter worked for, and mostly stayed in his office where he could survey their four branches: Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Slytherin, and the one she worked in, Gryffindor. 'Ah, Miss Evans. I was just going to get a doughnut and some coffee, but I'm glad to run into you, Minerva needs you in her office.' Swallowing, Lily nodded and stepped aside to let him in. As the doors slid shut she hurried to McGonagall, hoping that she wasn't in trouble. Was it because she was so awful to Potter? It couldn't be, they'd been awful to each other for nearly three years now, and apart from a few slaps on the wrist it had never been a true source of trouble in her work. They both managed to get their job done by the end of the day, and that was what McGonagall really cared about. It was useless to let her mind wander like this, she just needed to find out what was wrong.  
Reaching the door she took a deep, steadying breath, before knocking twice. 'Come in,' her voice sounded weary. Gathering all her strength, Lily did.

McGonagall was sitting behind her desk, her various journalism and editorial awards framed on the wall behind her like they always were, gleaming proudly, draped in the red of the Gryffindor branch. Every piece of wall not covered in awards was covered in pictures instead. McGonagall had never had children, and as far as Lily knew wasn't married, but the pictures were all of the workers here. There she was, at the company picnic, pulling a face at the camera. There was Alice and her husband Frank at an editing party. There was her with all the other women of the office, another with all the men. There was Potter, drunk of his arse with his tie undone, singing on a table at one of the parties and there were even a few of Black. Right in the corner, a picture winked that she'd never seen before. Narrowing her eyes she just managed to take in a shot of her and Potter, standing by the vending machine, both firmly resolved not to give up the final crisp packet. Her mouth was pinched and her arms crossed, she looked downright feral. But Potter, well of course he looked stubborn, but it was more than obvious that he was enjoying the little spat, and was in no hurry to give it up. Moving closer Lily frowned, noting the difference between their two attitudes, wondering what that even meant...  
'Sit down please Lily.' McGonagall shook her out of her reverie, and Lily did as she was told. She didn't look happy at all, Lily's stomach dropped to her feet, all thoughts of Potter wiped from her mind like a marker board. 'Am I in trouble?' McGonagall didn't answer, which made her stomach drop even further, and tears begin to prick at her eyelids. Was it because she and Potter had written separate reports? Surely that didn't warrant calling for Dumbledore. Had she made a mistake somewhere somehow? Had she offended Lockhart? The door opened and Potter walked in. Taking the seat next to hers he repeated the question Lily had just asked, again with no response. He gave her a small glance and she shrugged imperceptibly. He caught it, as he always caught all of her movements, and swallowed once, before letting his eyes raise to the pictures. Normally, she would have allowed herself to be diverted with them, there were always new additions, but what five minutes ago seemed so important was null and void now. She was one and all apprehension, her body stretched to a single thin line, ready to be snapped at any moment by anyone with a little strength in their fingers. 

After what seemed like an eternity, Dumbledore finally walked in. Setting his coffee and doughnut down on the desk, he paced back and forth for a few minutes. Lily watched him with bated breath, waiting and waiting. Nothing happened. He didn't speak. Clearing his throat quietly, potter asked, 'I'm sorry, can I ask why we're here?' Dumbledore looked up sharply, as if he'd forgotten they were there, 'Oh of course, I was waiting for Minerva,' he gestured to said woman, who rolled her eyes. Then she reached down and slammed something on the table. 'Read.' 

Both employees leaned forward, noting the picture that Lily had just seen on the wall of the two of them in front of the vending machine, plastered on the front of the pile of pages. In large, spiky letters the title read.

Their daring, nerve and criminality set Gryffindors apart

Heart leaping in her throat, Lily's eyes scanned the page for the rest of the details.

When it comes to Hogwarts, our readers are well versed in its traditions, the oldest source of news in England, a name that garners respect. Everyone is well aware of the feud between the branches, but lately trouble has been brewing, reaching the ears of not just one greedy reporter. It seems that the once great Gryffindor is losing its touch. 

Typically pandering to its more big-headed readers, Gryffindor mainly covers acts of success. Heroes, CEOs, stories that make people's hearts melt with pride, everyone who was taken a risk and watched it pay off seems to enjoy their time in the spotlight. For over one hundred years now, Gryffindor has done its duty and gained popularity, until it overshadowed its other branches and required an expansion, the only branch to do so until Slytherin two years ago. However, lately with Slytherin's rise, we have started to see Gryffindor's fall. While it could just be put down to branch rivalry, and the balance between the four of them, inside reports have told us this is not the case at all. Gryffindor seemed to be doing fine until two years ago, when Miss Lily Rose Evans was employed by McGonagall. 

Having graduated from university with honours, she seemed an incredibly promising candidate, and a worthy adversary for the rising Slytherin. This may have been the case, and for those of you who read Gryffindor you will have doubtlessly come across her writing which is both witty and clever and engaging. Readers love her, but they have no idea what goes on in Gryffindor's building. They don't know that when 23 year old Lily Evans was first introduced to Gryffindor, she was also first introduced to Mr James Fleamont Potter. His reputation precedes him, the son of Fleamont Potter, inventor of Sleakeazy's, rich before he could even walk. Also a first rate writer, he's won as many prizes as Lily Evans, but the one thing both never seemed to be able to do was get along. Inside reports of anonymous sources state that 'it's a well-known fact around this office; the Lily-James feud' and that 'They can't ever work together on a project, it's an actual rule here, maybe the only one that's ever followed.' Upon being asked whether their clashing was distracting, the source laughed and said, 'I don't think I ever get work done in the office, they're always yelling at each other or racing each other or fighting. There's always something that's the matter. And when one of them's gone the other just spends the whole day loudly proclaiming how happy they are to finally work in a productive environment, it's insufferable.' This however, is not the worst of it. Not only do the two disrupt the work environment, and constantly show their immaturity and lack of professionalism with their childish fighting, but they have both been traced to illegal matters. 

James Fleamont Potter landed in the hospital five weeks ago with a concussion, bruised ribs and a broken arm. A building had fallen on him. The one who took him to the hospital was a one Lily Evans if the medical reports are to be believed. This begs the question, if these two hated each other so much. Why where they together? It seems, that after having spoken to our source, Evans and Potter were given a secret mission. 'Our head, McGonagall often does this,' the source states, 'She gives them tasks to race each other to do, in order to give the office some peace and quiet. They're always gone forever, and come back all tired and with a new scoop. It's quite impressive because not only does she get two brilliant stories, but she also gets some rest. Mostly they're fools errands, vague enough to let them come back and write about anything, but I found out that the one they were sent on was different. The building that fell on James Potter was not a random building, as he would have people believe. The building that fell on him was actually the Shrieking Shack.' Now what, dear readers, could have been a journalist's business there? 

Mouth dry, Lily stopped reading, certain that the next paragraphs would be accusing her of all sorts of crimes, as the Shrieking Shack was a building seized by the government after having housed the gang 'The Werewolves' for nearly ten years. Going back there was forbidden, and you could only get in with the password to unlock the padlock on the door, the passcode that only members of the Werewolves knew. 'Do you have any idea,' McGonagall's voice was shaking in fury, 'What you have done. You have both been accused of being members, and not only will it cost you your jobs, it will open a pending investigation not just against you, but against Gryffindor itself. What on earth possessed you to go there. And how were you able to get in?' Spine rigid, Lily didn't answer, feeling nausea creep into the back of her throat.  
'It was something really stupid McGonagall. I'd seen a file somewhere of the police, because Peter was working on that investigation, of the password, and I dared Evans to come with me and break in. I said we could get a great story out of it, there was sure to be secrets hidden in the lines of the walls. But it's a really old building, and it was unstable.' His statement dried the tears in her eyes and chased the nausea away, albeit temporarily. He was lying. He was openly lying to McGonagall and Dumbledore after being caught doing something illegal. Snatching the article back, McGonagall said in a tiny voice, 'Slytherin sent this to us as blackmail. They want the Lockhart case.' Of course they did. McGonagall shook her head, 'We're not giving it to them.'  
'I'm sorry, what?' She shot them both a glare,  
'Think. If we agree then they have both the story, and another one. Gryffindor condones illegal activity and bribes Slytherin to cover it up. What's to stop them from publishing that?' Her hands shook harder and harder, 'And then Gryffindor will definitely be done for for good. No. We are not giving them the case. But you both...' here she paused, and Dumbledore put a hand on her arm, which she shook off. Looking them straight in the eyes she said, 'You are both being let go. As soon as the case comes out we are firing you because we do not affiliate ourselves with criminals, especially not of the Werewolves. You will pack up your belongings, and will have to prepare yourselves for the court case that is coming. Because even though this is Slytherin's gossip column, they undoubtedly have facts to back up their claims. Let us just hope that this will not be the end of Gryffindor. That your foolishness,' her voice broke on the word, 'Has not cost me my life's work. All the success, the expansion, the fame, it was all because of me and my sacrifices. I gave up everything for this newspaper. And I hoped you two would be able to one day even take over from me,' A tear snaked its way down Lily's cheek, 'But you have proven to be my worst mistake. How could you be so brash? I employed adults, not children on an adventure.' The more she blinked the more the tears fell, the remnants of her shattered heart leaking over her face, 'Go. I can't even look at you right now.' Rising as quickly as possible, Lily shoved open the door and ran down the length of the hallway until she reached the girls toilets, ignoring Potter calling her name, she went in and found a toilet stall to finish crying in. 

A tentative knock sounded at the stall door, 'Lily?' Dorcas. Sighing, Lily opened the stall door and walked out, catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Her hair was a mess, sticking to her face, surrounding her red eyes. Her skin glistened with either snot or tears, both probably, and her nose was red. 'Oh Lils,' Dorcas opened her arms and enveloped her in a hug. Smothering her face in her friend's shoulder, the tears renewed themselves. 'What happened Lily?' Mary, Dorcas's girlfriend who was never far behind her, asked. They both worked in the design and publicity section of the magazine, and had desks situated next to each other. Lily lifted her head and said pathetically, 'I'm fired.' Mary's mouth fell open,  
'What do you mean fired? You're their best writer.' Lily shrugged helplessly,  
'Why did they fire you babe?' Mary sat on the sink, looking at her expectantly and taking the tissue Dorcas offered her, Lily leaned against it and said,  
'I was in the Shrieking Shack with Potter, and someone found out and is going to publish it.' Four eyes scrutinised her,  
'The bloody Shrieking Shack?'  
'The bloody Shrieking Shack,' Lily confirmed limply. Dorcas turned on her angrily,  
'Well what the bloody fuck were you doing there?'  
'Dorcas, language,' Mary admonished and Dorcas grumbled out a 'sorry', to which Mary rolled her eyes and grabbed her hand. 'But seriously Lily, why on earth would you go there. How did you even get in?' Here she stopped for a moment in her pity party. Potter had lied about how they'd gotten in. She didn't want to throw anyone under the bus anymore than he did, and if it meant lying to her friends then so be it. 'Well you know how Potter's friends with Peter, the police officer?' Both of them nodded, 'He was investigating something about it and Potter thought it would be a great story, so he found the password from the file and that's how we got in.' Mary shook her head,  
'Lily you've got some guts.'  
'Yeah, and a fat lot of good it did me.' She dumped the sodden tissue into the bin, 'Now I'm fired, and a possible criminal, and Gryffindor itself is going down the bloody toilet.' 'Woah woah woah.' Dorcas held her hand out, 'Look, if you got there legally-I mean,' she frowned and shared a glance with Mary, who was still holding her hand, 'Slightly legally, then Gryffindor will be fine. You might not be, but Gryffindor didn't send you there.' Lily shrugged hopelessly, she knew she couldn't think like that, that her hope wouldn't be rewarded. It was more likely to tarnish Gryffindor's reputation, if not be enough to take it down. She'd grown up reading the newspaper, dreaming of one day being able to write it. How could she be the one to bring it down after hundreds of years? How could she ever live with that? The thought caused fresh tears to leak from her eyes, and Lily wiped them, furious with herself. 'Look guys, I think I just need to clear my desk and go home. I just need ice cream and a movie.' Dorcas and Mary shared a concerned glance, and then turned to her and nodded, 'If that's what you think is best hon.' Lily gave them a watery smile,  
'Thank you for being here. I'm sorry we can't work together anymore.' Dorcas brushed it off,  
'Come on, it's not like our friendship has ended. Besides, here you're too consumed by your work and Potter to notice us much anyway. The most we see each other is out of office anyway.' Lily rolled her eyes,  
'I'm not consumed by Potter.'  
'Ok then hon, if you say so.' Lily scolded at them,  
'Is this supposed to cheer me up?' Mary grinned sheepishly,  
'Sorry babe, my best advice right now is that ice cream you were talking about.' Nodding, Lily pushed herself off the counter and wiped her eyes. It was useless, it was obvious she'd been crying anyway. What was the point in hiding it if she'd never come back here? Throwing her friends one last tear stained smile, she went out into the office again, and started to pack up her desk.

Potter was waiting for her when she was done, after ignoring the whispers and burning eyes of colleagues and deflecting all their questions about where she was going. Leila Alfonse had been particularly smug, asking if she had been fired and Lily had to summon all her strength not to slap the asshole. When she noticed Potter she just shoved her way past him, and jammed the button of the elevator with her finger. Potter still managed to slip in right as the doors closed however, to her chagrin. 'What do you want Potter?' she snapped. It hadn't been his fault that she'd been fired but...it kind of had. Anyway, she needed an outlet for her anger and as ugly as it was, he was an easy punching bag. Mainly because there was so much to dislike and be annoyed by, and because he always responded to her, no matter the situation. 'I was thinking you come round my apartment in the evening tonight, say around eight? I'll email you the address, because goodness knows you haven't got my number saved.' Lily threw him a funny look, 'Are you a planning a 'we got fired' bash or something?' He shot her a look,  
'Ha ha very droll Evans. I always forget how amusing you are. Unfortunately it's not helping me in this situation. Are you coming or not?'  
'Um, I think not.' At least there was one silver lining, once she was home, Potter would be out of her life for good. Strangely enough however, this thought didn't bring nearly the satisfaction she'd thought it would. In fact, when she thought of a life without him she felt strangely, hollow. That was stupid, she was stupid. It was the emotional day talking, it had all been such a rollercoaster. She'd been so happy with her article. Oh God, her article. She hadn't even had time to turn it in. Not that McGonagall would publish her anyway. Her reputation was tarnished now, she was over for good. Numbly the thought hit her and she had to set down her box of belongings, how very cliche. It was over. Her whole writing career was done. Once she got hit with the case, and it came out that Hogwarts sacked her. She was done for. No one would ever hire her for writing again. What would she do with her life? 'So you're just giving up?' Not in the mood for this unpleasant interruption of her spiral, she turned towards him and snarled,  
'Listen Potter, I don't know what you'd have me do, join you in drinking myself into forgetting, raiding a store, joining a dancing troupe and touring the bloody world but I'm still dealing with the last of your brilliant schemes, so forgive me if I'm not in the mood.' He stayed silent during her rant, gazing at her, stone-faced as she spat hate, piling her anger on and on until she felt it leave her in a brilliant whoosh and she stepped back on her heels, feeling strangely exhilarated. Potter simply raised an eyebrow, 'I see. You're not done feeling sorry for yourself.'  
'Honestly Potter, what do you even know. I don't have to listen to you.' The doors of the elevator opened, and she was about to saunter out when he grabbed her wrist and brought her face right up to his. How come they always ended up in this position? Nose to nose, the tip of his almost brushing the tip of hers, 'This isn't over. Not by a long shot. We still have a chance to make things right.' She wanted to rip her arm away and stalk off, leave this part of her life behind. But something about the way his eyes glinted, like he knew what he was going to do, and it was going to be brilliant, and the fact that this place was all of her; stopped her. She couldn't walk away, not this easily. Besides, there was a reason she'd heard Potter's school friends call him and his mates the 'Marauders', goodness knows she'd heard Marlene, who practically grew up with him, mention it enough. And she might have been just a little bit curious as to what that entailed, and what he had done to gain such a reputation. What was he really capable of. 'What can we do,' she hadn't meant for her voice to come out as breathless as it did, it was the emotions of the day, she was so tired. But the moment she said it, something in Potter seemed to unlock and a malevolent grin spread across his features, painting his face from the colleague she'd known everyday to someone who could well be a criminal. She'd never seen him look like this before, staring at her like she was capable of exactly everything that he was. Like she was his partner in crime. Well, if she had to go out, at least she'd go out in style. 'Come to my apartment,' Potter repeated, dropping her arm and making his way to his car, over his shoulder he called, 'We'll talk more then.'

Staring up at the gilded number 4 engraved on the faded red door, Lily wondered for the first time whether or not this was really a good idea. The boy had saved her life admittedly, but he was also the reason they were there in the first place, and the way he'd looked at her. A shiver ran through her as she thought about it, and forcing herself to not be ridiculous, she pulled her coat tighter around her. She could do this. Potter was just Potter after all, they weren't going to be doing anything illegal...right? The Shrieking Shack had been illegal, but they hadn't done anything bad there. Argh. For once she wanted to step outside of her head and do something reckless just because. She didn't want to run through a thousand ways that things could go wrong. Biting back a smirk she thought that was a wonderful title for the book of her mind. A thousand ways that things could go wrong by Lily Evans. Come on Lily. Focus. Firmly taking a step back from her overanalysing mind, she knocked firmly on the door, which immediately swung open. A man blinked at her, his body clad in pyjamas. His eyes darted left and right nervously, before saying, 'Um...hello? Can I help you?' Was she at the wrong door? Had Potter fucking sent her the wrong address to mess with her? She was going to find that boy and tear him apart, limb by limb, inch by inch until he was a sobbing bloody mess on the floor, begging for mercy-The man was pushed aside by someone who swung the door wide open. 'Evans,' Black's faced creased in delight, 'Welcome to our humble abode.' And stooping in a low bow, he gestured for her to come in. Guiltily pushing all thoughts of murdering Potter from her mind, Lily entered.

It was neater than she'd expected it to be. A large couch ran dominated the main living space, with a tv in front of it, and a fluffy rug on the floor. A kitchenette stood to her right, and to her left were three other doors. Another man was sitting on the couch, filling in a crossword, also in his pyjamas. Potter was nowhere to be found. 'Is Potter here?' she asked, turning around to Black, who was wearing a t-shirt that said 'I'm funny, what do you do for a living?' 'Nice t-shirt,' she said and Black grinned cheekily at her,  
'Should I take it off?' Letting out a laugh despite herself she shielded her eyes,  
'Spare me Black.' He looked delighted at having made her smile, and patted her very kindly on the shoulder, before moving to sit on the couch next to the other boy.  
'Prongs will be here in a second. This is Remus.' Lily offered her hand and Remus took it, smiling very politely. 'And that is Peter.' Lily turned to see the man who'd so nervously questioned her identity at the door. Peter, she knew that name, of yes, 'The Policeman?' she asked, and Black laughed out loud.  
'The police cadet. Not quite there yet.' Peter muttered something before disappearing into the kitchenette and busying himself with something. 'He's making you tea,' Black explained, 'He's very proper that one is, unlike the rest of us. Now come sit Evans, and take off your coat.' When she did he gave a sad little shake of his head,  
'I must say, it's disappointing you didn't stick to the dress code.'  
'I was never informed there was one.' Remus smiled kindly at her as Black sat up,  
'The simply won't do. Come, you can try some of mine.' And he held out a hand. If it were anyone else, Lily would have spat in their faces and told them to stop being so creepy. But there was something about Black that she couldn't help but love and trust. As much as he irritated her, it was nothing like Potter. It was more like he was her brother, and whenever he annoyed her there was a fondness behind it. He knew he was pushing her buttons because that was his job. So she took his hand, and let herself be led into one of the doors. 

After being clad in an overly long t-shirt that read 'The Marauders'- did they have merch? They were so weird- and plaid pyjama bottoms, with her hands wrapped around a mug of tea, which she was drinking even though she didn't like tea, Potter finally emerged. Throwing his hat and coat on the stand and dumping a container on the counter, he revealed his pyjamas, which were a matching set covered in strange tiny, gold circles with wings. Startled, he jumped when he saw her, and Lily had to fight the strange urge to laugh. It was strangely adorable, seeing him in normal clothes. As if he wasn't always the man who breathed fire and gave as good as he got, not even the man who'd taken a building for her for no reason. Just a boy of 25, and that was ok. he was normal. Now that was stranger than everything else. James Potter was a normal twenty-five year old, just like her. 'You're in pyjamas too.'  
'I gave her some of mine,' Sirius blew on his tea, then secretly added sugar to Remus' when he wasn't looking. Lily gave him a strange look and leaning in he whispered,  
'He thinks he wants it 'black, like his soul' but he doesn't know that I've been serving him three spoons of sugar ever since I met him. it's tiring to keep up the appearance, but worth it when he complains to people's faces that they don't make their black tea right. Fucking hilarious.' Lily snorted, then turned back to Potter, who was staring at her strangely. 'What?' He shook his head, causing his hair to flop into his eyes.  
'Nothing, let's eat.' A cheer rose from the rest of the boys.

After having eaten their fill of the container, which was food that Potter's mother had very kindly made for them, seeing as 'There are no good places for Pakistani food in this city at. All.' according to Potter, he dragged a low desk in front of the couch, and spread a sheet of paper on it, using mugs to weigh it down.  
'Alright. So. I've been thinking about this, and it's obvious that the person who write the column was Lucius Malfoy.' Lily turned to him from where she was edged between Black and Remus on the couch, grudgingly impressed, 'How do you reckon that?' Potter shrugged,  
'Oh, you know, the style of writing.'  
'Bullshit.' Black threw at pillow at Potter, who ducked with a squawk, 'You asked McGonagall as soon as Lily left.' Lily glared at Potter, and then turned to Black,  
'Does he tell you everything?' He nodded smugly,  
'Absolutely everything.' Remus rolled his eyes,  
'They have a weird thing going on between them, I wouldn't question it.'  
'You're just jealous,' Peter piped up, grinning as Remus stretched like a cat.  
'Why would I be jealous? They're weirdly close. As in, I pity your future spouses close because you're practically married to each other.' Black rubbed a hand over his stomach, full of food, 'Good thing I'm aromantic and asexual then, I don't have to worry about that.' Remus blushed delicately,  
'Sorry mate, I didn't mean-' Black waved him off,  
'I know, you were talking about Prongsie over here. But don't worry about him either. Look at his ugly face. He's lucky I even love him.' Potter threw the pillow right back and it landed smack in Black's face, who gave an outraged roar. 'Ok, before it gets out of hand,' Peter said quietly, 'Maybe we should get back to the plan?' Potter beamed proudly and clapped him on the shoulder, 'Right you are Wormtail. Sorry old bean for letting my pride get the better of me.' He ruffled Peter's hair good-naturedly, who shoved him off and smoothed it back over, darting a quick glance in Lily's direction. Rubbing his hands together, Potter said, 'Ok so, Malfoy wrote it, and it's being published in two days. Which doesn't give us much time.' He waited, as if for anticipation to build up and Lily snapped,  
'Get on with it, I don't have all night.'  
'Oh I'm sorry, what job do you have to get to?' Sighing she leaned her head back against the couch.  
'Touche Potter.' He tapped his nose importantly and turned back to his sheet,  
'So, the Slytherins are very traditional, obviously, so they have all their writing saved only in the office. They're very careful of not letting it get outside the office in case it gets stolen. So no home computers will have the story, as they put some kind of digital location lock on it. Don't ask me how it works.' Lily sat up, realising what he was going to say and upon seeing her reaction, Potter looked the proudest he'd ever done, 'That's right, harness that evil genius inside of you. That's what I'm talking about.'  
'So we break in?'  
'We break in, and we crash their entire office. All records, everything. Gone. Wiped out.'  
'You know how to do that?' Potter thumped his chest proudly,  
'Nope, but my god pal Pads over here does.' Lily raised an eyebrow and looked at him. He smirked,  
'Come on Evans, just because I hang around at Gryffindor a lot doesn't mean I don't have a job. Or brains for that matter.'  
'What do you do?'  
'I work for the internet security of all of Hogwarts, you might say I'm the gatekeeper, or the most important guy in the business or some thing or other.'  
'So all the time you spent in our office you were actually working?' He nodded smugly, 'Why did you let me think you weren't?' Sirius exchanged a look with Potter,  
'I dunno, it was more fun that way. Make everyone think I'm the casual layabout who has nothing better to do with his life.'  
'But McGonagall said you didn't work here.' He grinned fondly,  
'Minnie likes saying that, she's a very good sport actually, loves playing along.' She felt like an absolute idiot.  
'Oh my gosh, so when you came in to bring us doughnuts?'  
'Oh no, I just needed to get away from that hospital, spending all my time there was stifling. Plus you looked like you could use some doughnuts.'  
'The whole office?'  
'Nope, just you. But I couldn't very well show up and just give you doughnuts, would look a bit weird no? Besides, Dorcas and Mary are amazing, I couldn't leave them out.'  
Lily just sat there, stunned. 'Why did I look like I needed doughnuts?' Sirius shrugged uncomfortably, not meeting her eye,  
'I dunno, you looked a bit sad after Prongs got hurt, a little out of it. I thought doughnuts might help a little.' She let out a dry laugh,  
'Oh my gosh. Well thank you,'  
'You're welcome.' Potter had been watching all of this patiently, but betrayed his presence with a little wriggle.  
'Alright, now that we're done with that touching bit.' Lily stuck her tongue out at him and he stuck his out right back, 'All we need to do it get into the building, Pads has downloaded something on a USB that we need to stick into the main power outlet, where all the computers are plugged in to.'  
'Who still uses actual computers anymore? Why don't they have laptops?'  
'Beats me Lupin, but luckily for us we don't have to worry about that. All we need to worry about is getting it done.' They all did some kind of lame high five, but Lily was still thinking it all through. Finally, when Potter looked at her and said, 'Ok?' She nodded resolutely, ready to do anything to get her life back,  
'Ok.'

Marlene had called her insane, and then hugged her tightly around the neck and proceeded to throw every piece of black clothing she owned at her, trying to come up with the best outfit. 'I'm not a bloody spy Marls, I won't be clad all in black.' She huffed and put her hands on her hips,  
'Well what are you going to wear then?' Lily smirked, Potter had gotten her number and they'd been swapping texts all night about what he called 'The Amazing Saving Scheme' (A.S.S for short because it was Potter), and she'd actually been the one to come up with the scheme. 'Sirius knows who's on security camera duty that night, and he's managed to create a diversion for us.' Marlene looked at her disbelievingly,  
'Who's on duty?' Lily's smile grew,  
'Parkinson,'  
'So?'  
'So, Parkinson is in love with Flint, like completely obsessed with her. And Sirius was supposed to meet with him for some security meeting but is going to call in sick. And Friday nights are the nights where she gets off work early, and goes to talk to him. Sirius has seen it happen. From home he can switch the camera to recordings of the place, and luckily Parkinson will be so wrapped up in Flint he won't even notice.'  
'So...no black clothes?' Lily shook her head,  
'Too suspicious, we're just going to be 'a couple on a date, looking for a place to have sex' and accidentally stumble upon the building, and the back door which, thanks to Sirius, will be unlocked.'  
'Wait,' Marlene grabbed her hands and waggled her eyebrows knowingly,  
'You're going to pretend to be some girl Potter is having sex with?' Lily wrenched her hands free,  
'Don't be ridiculous, we're not going to pretend to have sex. We'll just be together before we go in, and leave giggly.'  
'Mhm. And no one else will be on duty in the building?' Lily bared her teeth,  
'Actually no, because Parkinson sends them all away on Fridays, so he and Flint can be alone.'  
'Ok hon, then I guess you have to wear something sexy.' Rolling her eyes Lily scoffed,  
'I'm not actually seducing anyone. I'll wear clothing I can move in and we can pretend he's desperately in love with me so he wants to rip off my clothes no matter what I'm wearing. It's not a first date scenario.' Marlene gave her a look,  
'People are not going to believe he'll want to rip off your sweatpants-'  
'-I'm not actually convincing anyone and of course I won't wear sweatpants.' Marlene held out a black dress,  
'Just try this one.'  
'No,' she yelped, uncomfortably aware of how that dress hugged her body.  
'Lily it looks so good on you, you love wearing it.'  
'I'm not wearing it around Potter,' she hissed, flushing to match her hair. Her phone lit up with a new text, and before Lily had clocked what Marlene was going to do she'd already lunged for it. 'Give it back,' she yelled but Marlene knew her password-why had they told each other their passwords again? And had hastened a reply. The phone lit up immediately and with a triumphant 'HA,' she shoved the phone in Lily's face.

A.S.S  
\- You ready?  
\- Almost, should I wear something hot?

'Marlene you fucking didn't,' Lily seethed.  
'Look at his reply dumbass,'

A.S.S  
-yeah I guess, it's more believable that way no? 

Smugly, Marlene chucked the dress at her and blew her a kiss, 'Knock him dead hon.' 

With every step she was aware of how much she was showing, and how awkward it was going to be around Potter. Ok, so her bum or breasts weren't falling out or anything, but the dress hugged her in such a way that left little to the imagination. Perhaps it wouldn't have been so awkward, if Potter hadn't been her sworn enemy. At least in this she would win though, she definitely looked hotter than him at the moment. Reaching their rendezvous point at the street where his car was parked, she caught sight of him and her mouth dropped open. Ok, maybe she hadn't won at all.

She knew he was handsome, unfairly so, but why on earth did he have to look like that in a suit? Grumbling to herself about handsome people (at least she wasn't meeting Sirius, who would have looked even better), she walked over to him. 'Should we go?' she asked. Potter swallowed,  
'Sure,' in a strangled voice. Lily eyed him strangely,  
'Are you alright?' He waved his cast at her cheerfully and all thoughts were dropped by the guilt that seeped through her veins,  
'All good Evans, let's go.'

He hadn't looked at her the entire car ride, and it was starting to get a little strange. As arrogant as it sounded, she was used to his eyes following her wherever she went. If something funny happened in the office, or something that gave her cause to gloat she could rely on turning to him for a reaction, as he always met her gaze. Without fail. And now for perhaps the first time in then history of them knowing each other he was deliberately not looking at her, and it freaked her out. It was late in the evening, and streetlights washed over the car as they rolled down the highway, the stars just beginning to peek out. Although with such light, it was hard to make out anything. 'Are we close?' she asked, mainly for something to say. Potter mumbled,  
'Yeah, just ten more minutes.' But still he didn't even glance her way. Frowning, Lily adjusted her seating position, missing Potter's sharp intake of breath, and leaned forward to switch on the radio. 'Reports link the accident to the Death Eaters-' Lily switched the channel, her heart racing in her ears. Potter cleared his throat awkwardly as a whiny croon filled the car, 'I'm sorry. It seems like it's getting worse, doesn't it?'  
'Not exactly helping Potter.' His nose reddened,  
'No, right. Of course not. I'm sorry.' She shrugged,  
'It's not your fault, is it?' He was silent, but when the stopped at a light his hand gently brushed hers, as if trying to reassure her of his presence. The blood rushing to her head, Lily pulled back her hand to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, 'This song sucks.' His eyes darted to her for the first time that night, but sensing she didn't want to be pushed, he rolled with the change of subject,  
'Yeah, it really does.'  
'What are they called again?' He snorted,  
'The Hippogriffs,'  
'What the fuck does that even mean?'  
'Beats me Evans.' She let out a giggle despite herself, and he looked at her like she was crazy.  
'Are you drunk?' She shook her head, still giggling.  
'Just scared.' The words escaped her mouth before she could stop them, and they pulled into the parking lot. Turning off the engine he faced her, eyes questioning, she shook her head, 'Everyone's scared. It doesn't matter.'  
'Just because everyone's scared doesn't take away from-'  
'-Look we need to get this job done. Let's just please focus on that. Then we can talk about anything for any amount of time after that. We can discuss my childhood and the fact that I can't go anywhere out of town without fearing for my life, or how we could all be murdered tomorrow but right now let's just get our jobs back.' His face grew more and more concerned as she spoke, but when she'd finished, surprised at how much she'd shared with him, he just nodded. 'Alright Evans, let's do this first.' His tone implied he did want to talk about it, and that unsettled something in her. Potter was for yelling at, for planning schemes against and in this case with, not for heartfelt conversations. She didn't even know why her mouth ran of its own accord with him, but it was scary enough without her adding the extra complication of Potter on top of everything. They would never speak about this again, they would just happily fade into old rivals once their jobs were secured, and everything would be fine. 

The door was unlocked, thank God, and they managed to sneak up the stairs with little trouble at all. Then the first security camera was around the corner. Potter sucked in a breath, 'Moment of truth.' and Lily was just about to creep forward when he took a run up, and sprinted towards the camera yelling 'AHHHHHHH.' Casting a horrified look at him, he was such a moron, Lily cursed herself and ran after him, flapping her hands about and jumping up and down. They waited with bated breath for five minutes, and when nothing seemed to come after them, collapsed into a fit of giggles. 'You tosser, you should have warned me.' Tears were streaming down her cheeks as he sank to the floor, clutching his stomach, 'To be fair, I didn't know what I was going to do before I did it.' She squawked and shoved his shoulder, to which he sniggered,  
'You're so fucking impulsive. This wasn't even planned out?' He shook his head,  
'Nope, but it got you smiling didn't it?' Her laughter caught in her throat. He'd done it to cheer her up. What was he thinking? She opened her mouth to voice the thought, but he looked so proud of himself that she just let it go, and shook her head, 'Ah well, I guess I'm just as impulsive. I ran after you without thinking.'  
'You have my back Evans, good to know.'  
'Might be a useful thing to know in this situation, yeah.' He shot her his crooked grin and her stomach clenched. It was probably the nerves of the evening. She held out her hand, 'Alright, let's do this as fast as we can. We have about an hour.' Nodding importantly, he let her pull him to a standing position, and they set off in direction of the main power supply, Lily ignoring the electric shock his hand have given her.

It was laughably easy to find, the door was marked 'Power room', and had no security cameras in it so if the plan failed, at least they were safe in the room. Potter uncapped the USB, and was searching where to plug it in when Lily held out a hand. 'Wait.' He stopped, looking at her,  
'We need to find out who their informant is first, so we can destroy all the evidence.' He smacked a head to his forehead,  
'Right, of course. Sorry.' Shoving the USB back into his pocket he followed her out of the room and to one of the computers.  
'Ok, so password.' Potter shot a quick text to Sirius and then held the reply out to her.

-all computers locked with the same password and files, password is abstinence

'Abstinence?' Potter grinned along with her,  
'I guess they're more traditional than we counted for.'  
'You think that's why they're all so crabby, because their work forbids them from having sex?' He snickered,  
'Evans, don't be rude.'  
'I was only joking.'  
'I'm sure Slughorn really gets into it every now and then.' Groaning, Lily covered her ears,  
'For the love of all that is holy, please never say that again.'  
'Know him personally do you?' Lily groaned louder and shoved his shoulder,  
'He was my mentor when I first toured Hogwarts you asshole. I don't even want to picture that.'  
'Ooh but you are though, can you imagine Mr Slughorn, leading some poor woman into his office and then taking off his clothes while dancing to-' Lily clamped her hand around his mouth, 'One more word Potter and I swear I'll tie you up somewhere and leave you for them to find.' She removed her hand,  
'Kinky.' He ducked as she turned around, laughing his head off. Rolling her eyes, trying to hide her smile Lily typed in the password and unlocked the computer. Keeping her eyes trained to the screen, she slowly scrolled through files, 'What does it say?' His breath heated her neck and she jumped on impulse. 'What?' She gave him a look and blushing he moved back a little, 'Sorry, I couldn't see the screen.' Shaking her head, she clicked on the file with next week's articles, and found their right at the top. Clicking on it, she scrolled through pages and pages of the article, each accusation more outrageous than the next, before finding a phone number at the bottom of the page, and the link to a website. Potter whipped out his phone and typed in the number, and when she waited until he was finished before clicking on the hyperlink. They were directed to a page called 'The Chamber of Secrets' and Lily's eyes widened the more she scrolled,  
'Jesus,' she said softly, and behind her, Potter gasped. The dark mark was plastered all over the screen. Lily turned around, catching his eye,  
'They're working for them.' For the first time in her life, Lily Evans saw the colour leech from Potter's face, and a terrified look replacing his usual carefree grin.  
'You shouldn't be here.' Lily scoffed,  
'What?'  
'I'm serious Evans. They find me, it's no big deal but if they find you...' She scowled at him,  
'I'm here to do a job Potter, my neck's on the line as much as yours.'  
'Yes but it's different for you,' he protested. She drew herself to her full height.  
'Do not start treating me like some porcelain object. We're both in danger, maybe me a little more, but we're going to finish the job and then leave.Do not do me the disrespect of coddling me.' Her voice left no room for argument and with a firm tug, she took his phone and started talking pictures of the entire website.  
'They blackmail us, we blackmail them,' she said softly. Then she held out her hand for the USB. But turning around she saw Potter was already pulling the door to the room open. Asshole. Just because they were suddenly on Death Eater territory he wanted to rush the job. She appreciated his concern but really, she was his equal. Not someone lesser then him, that he needed to rescue. She didn't need his saving.

Running to catch up with him, she just reached the door when the power went out in the entire building. Potter's voice drifted from somewhere in the darkness, 'Ok so we have about five minutes to get out of here before Parkinson gets here.'  
'Alright, give me your torch.'  
'Um.' Lily wanted to scream,  
'You didn't bring a bloody torch?'  
'Don't act so high and mighty Evans, I don't see you with one either.' A hand grabbed hers and she shrieked,  
'Ow, Evans calm down, it's just so we don't lose each other.' Lily blushed to the roots of her hair, thankful he couldn't see her,  
'Ah, well let's just get out of here.'  
'Ok, give me a second,' Sticking out her hand to feel the walls, she managed to manurer their way out of the room. But they didn't get five steps into the office when Potter bumped into a chair and smacked to the floor, nearly taking her down with him. 'Are you ok?' she hissed, thinking about his arm. A moan answered her,  
'Peachy keen, why?' Rolling her eyes she scrabbled around on the floor for his hand, 'WOAH.' She wrenched her hand back,  
'Sorry sorry sorry.'  
'At least buy me dinner first,'  
'Shut up.'  
'I never knew you to be so forward.'  
'I said SHUT UP POTTER.' But at that exact moment footsteps accosted her hearing and Potter stopped wheezing. Dropping to the floor, Lily managed to work out where his foot was and took hold of that instead, 'Ok, we need to crawl to the exit.'  
'Two problems Evans.' She gritted her teeth,  
'One, I can't see and two, I can't crawl with one hand.' The footsteps were getting closer, and the door to the office started opening, flooding light into the room.  
'Shit,' she hissed, getting up and tugging Potter with her, who's body slid surprisingly easy on the linoleum floor, until they were in the corner of the room, and the beam of a flashlight glanced over the desks. Biting back a nervous laugh at the look of surprise on Potter's face at being dragged by his foot across the floor, she shoved them both against the wall, thankfully in a shadow as she heard Parkinson call, 'Who's there?'  
Potter tugged at her sleeve and she was about to snap at him when he motioned to the door behind them. Nodding imperceptibly, she inched towards the door to the back stairwell, and reached for the handle. 

The beam of light shine right next to her and hissing, she shrank back against the wall, catching Potter's wide eyed stare. 'Hello?' Parkinson was waving the torch about madly, as if determined that they were there, and set on finding them. Sucking in a breath, Lily turned to look at Potter, a meaning clear in her eyes. She shook his phone at him, and he nodded, his gaze clearing. Sliding along the wall she pressed herself right next to him, giving him the phone. Taking it from her he unlocked it one-handed, and typed in a number. One of the office phones went off and the beam of light shot in the air, indicating Parkinson's reaction to the shock. Sliding along the wall, until it almost reached her, the beam suddenly snapped off, as Parkinson stalked over to the phone. 'Hello?' The voice came through Potter's phone, luckily on silent. They only had a few seconds to make this work. Potter obviously couldn't talk to him without betraying their location and their identity. So while he kept him on the line, Lily snuck back to the door, and agonisingly slowly, pressed down on the handle before it clicked ever so slightly, but still far too loudly, and the door opened. Turning back to Potter she widened her eyes. 'Hello?' The voice became more insistent, as Potter had just been breathing heavily on the phone, to keep him engaged. 'Who is this?' Motioning with her head, she slipped through, then held the door open for him. 'You know that calling here and wasting my time is a criminal offence whoever you are. This is Slytherin at Hogwarts. We will find out who you are and track you.' His voice reached a higher and higher decibel and Lily snorted, did he think they were the police or something? Potter slowly got up and slipped through the door, right at the moment that Parkinson slammed down the receiver, and the call ended. The flashlight suddenly shone on the door again, washing Potter in golden light. Cement filled her legs, as she saw her expression of horror mirrored on Potter's face. 'STOP RIGHT THERE.' They were off.

Scrambling down the stairs so quickly it felt more like falling than running, Lily threw herself down, counting every step until she could reach the back door, praying it was still open, still open. Potter was a few steps in front of her, having longer legs, and Parkinson wasn't far behind, his flashlight swinging wildly along the walls. He hadn't had a proper glimpse of their faces, and hopefully he wouldn't be able to identify them. 'STOP RUNNING.' Lily snorted, her body heaving in breaths, like they were going to agree with him and just stop. Like yes Parkinson, now that you've kindly asked I will in fact stop, please handcuff me and take me in. I do so enjoy the aspect of jail. Shaking her head she forced herself to focus, if she had time to be sarcastic she wasn't going fast enough. The door came closer and closer and then suddenly Potter had reached it. He heaved it open with his shoulder, and held it for her, his mouth motioning for her to hurry up. She could only thank her good sense that she'd worn normal shoes, and not the heels Marlene had waved at her. There, she'd reached the final step, speeding past Potter she made it outside and nearly cried in relief. Turning back she saw Potter grinning at her, only he had his back turned to the door, and Parkinson managed to grab hold of the back of his suit. Darting back, Lily did the only thing she could think of (in hindsight, it was incredibly stupid, but maybe the Gryffindor spirit had been rubbing off on her) and tugged off her shoe, throwing it right into Parkinson's face. 

Lily had played baseball in school, and had a killer arm so when she threw things, she threw them hard. It bounced off his face, and Parkinson was forced to let go to grab it in both hands, cursing. Potter wasted no time in leaning forward to grab the shoe off the ground, and then shoving the door shut. However, in the time it had taken him to retrieve the shoe Parkinson's anger had risen, and he reached out with his hands again. Lily joined Potter at the door and helped him heave and shove, until it fell firmly shut, and Potter panted, 'Now what?'  
'You're the one who's supposed to be good at this,'  
'In case you noticed Evans,' his voice strained with the effort to stop Parkinson from escaping, 'I haven't done this very often.'  
'Why on earth did you go back for the shoe?'  
'Call it chivalry Evans, but I didn't want them to have you DNA, plus we need to walk back to the car and on barefoot I'll hazard a guess that it's not too pleasant.' Oh. Well that was a little thoughtful of him perhaps. Shaking the thought from her head she said, 'We can't hold the door forever, what do we do?' Potter glanced at her, then said.  
'I might have a way, but it's risky.' She exhaled a breath in a half laugh,  
'Clearly risky is not my cup of tea.' He smirked,  
'Alright, you're going to need to trust me. We're going to need to let go on three.' Trust him. Every instinct in her screamed not to, that whatever harebrained scheme he was thinking of was probably just as bad as this whole plan had been, but his eyes were strangely earnest in this light, and he'd proven to put her before him again and again. Wincing she remembered the day at the shack. Oh what the heck, she nodded. Potter held her gaze, 'Three. Two. One.' They let go and Parkinson tumbled through the door, right as Potter jumped on him and held his arms behind his head. Snarling, Parkinson tried to twist out of the grip, but only succeeded in getting a face full of dirt. Lily took a seat next to Potter, and restrained the arm he couldn't with his cast. 'Now what?' she mouthed and Potter motioned to his pocket. Frowning slightly, but what else could she do-she reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny mirror, a blank piece of very old paper and some chocolate. 'Fuck, other pocket,' Rolling her eyes Lily replaced the items and leaned over to get to the other pocket. A piece of string reached her hand and she tugged it out. Pulling back she allowed Potter to hold Parkinson's arms with one hand as she wrapped the string around them, trying him to his back. Perhaps she was a little too severe with the knot, and how it cut into his skin, but he worked for a hate group, and she was determined to not let him come after them. 'Now we just run.' They let go of him and bolted down the street, past shops and bars and pubs until they finally slowed before The Three Broomsticks- the town was apparently obsessed with witchery- and collapsed, panting and heaving with laughter onto each other. Passers-by gave them knowing looks, and Lily was glad for her clothes if they explained her ruffled appearance. Beaming with pride, she placed her hand in Potter's, who jerked back in surprise, and tugged him along to where their car stood, filled to the brim with joy. 

'You were bloody amazing Evans, honestly, saving my neck all those times.'  
'Right back at ya Potter,' he beamed at her, and she felt her chest go all funny.  
'We're getting our jobs back.'  
'We're getting our jobs back.' He was looking at her like she was the most brilliant thing in the entire world, like she'd invented the stars and painted the sky full of them. Like she was the reason the sun pulled the earth into day and the moon washed over the plains at night, calm guarding them from harm. It was such an intimate look it made her feel shy, and she could hardly look at it. But she couldn't look away either, she didn't want to. Why was he looking at her like that? 'Potter,' she blurted out before she could stop herself, 'Why did you take the building for me?' He gazed at her in surprise, his hand reaching up to ruffle his hair.  
'Um, well.' She waited as he struggled before going, 'Why wouldn't I have?' A humourless laugh escaped her,  
'Um, because we hate each other. And because you could have died. Not many people save other people's lives sadly enough.'  
'I don't hate you.' She was taken aback by the earnestness in his tone,  
'What?'  
'I don't hate you, I never hated you.' He was going red now, it was strangely adorable. Oh my goodness what was happening to her?  
'You never hated me?' He shook his head,  
"I could never hate you Lily I-' she sucked in a breath at his use of her name, she didn't know why it affected her so much. 'Look, I saved you because I...' He trailed off and she leaned closer, 'Because you?' His pupils widened the closer she came, as if they were trying to drink her up,  
'Because I love you.' She slammed back in her seat.  
'What?' His eyebrows furrowed but he didn't drop her gaze, as if he was determined to say everything now before the courage left him,  
'I love you. I've probably loved you ever since you walked through the door for the first time, I definitely liked you.'  
'But...but you were obnoxious,' he gave a sheepish laugh,  
'I guess I...don't really know how to talk to girls I like? Especially because you were so intimidating. I mean, you practically breathed fire when I even looked in your direction.' This couldn't be happening, this wasn't happening, why were her palms so sweaty, 'How could you love me if I breathed fire at you,' he shrugged,  
'I kind of...liked it? I mean, you were giving me attention, and it's fun to go against someone. Don't get me wrong, I didn't always like you. There were times when you drove me mad, but I never stopped loving you.  
'I tried though,' he defended, blushing bright red, 'Because I knew you fully hated me, I tried to stop loving you. But for some reason I couldn't. And then you saw me go into the Shrieking Shack and you followed me and then because of my stupidity the building started to fall and you were going to get crushed and I-' he hitched in a breath, his voice higher and higher by the second. 'I couldn't-t let that happen. Obviously not.'  
'You love me.' A small grin twitched his nose,  
'Yes.'  
'And you tried to stop.' He winced at the way her voice sounded,  
'Yes.'  
'And you couldn't.'  
'No.' Ok. Ok this was more than she'd bargained for, far more. 'Look Lily, I'm not asking for anything in return. I just thought it might be nice for you to know. Or really I wanted to have told you at least once. Let's just go home.' Tears filled her eyes and he looked at her in alarm, 'Oh no, oh no, no, no I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have said anything at all. I'm such an asshole. I'm sorry.'  
'You don't love me.' he stopped his string of apologies, looking rather affronted.  
'Um, yes I do.' She shook her head, why was she saying any of this?  
'You just love the chase, the fact that I was the one who hated you. Once the rivalry is gone you'll get bored and fall out of love. Trust me. It's happened before.' He raised his eyebrows and said very slowly. 'I have never in my life known you to be so stupid,' she arched back, ready to fire off but he kept speaking, 'I don't love you because of the bloody chase Lily, or because I can't have you. I don't know what kind of tosser you dated before that makes you say that, but I'm not him. Not that I don't love fighting with you, but actually the memories we have that I replay the most are the ones where we actually have conversations ok? The ones where you let yourself be vulnerable and then you-' He stopped, embarrassed.  
'The moments you replay?'  
'Well yes,' he said awkwardly, 'I think about you a lot.' She turned to look at her hands. 'The best one,' he said softly, and she turned to meet his eyes, 'Was the one where you stayed all night, holding my hand at the hospital.' She turned a fiery shade of red and her mouth dropped open,  
'You were asleep.'  
'I was pretending. I couldn't sleep, not with you so close.' He'd seen her. The humiliation flooded over her, he'd been there with her. 'You were so worried, you kept muttering sorries over and over, and then you just held my hand. When you fell asleep I kind of, watched you breathe a bit. Is that creepy? Sorry that's creepy.' Well technically she thought she'd been the one watching him sleep, so perhaps not so creepy. The revelation thudded through her, and suddenly the little voice in her head whispered, 'You love him too.' she quenched the voice. She didn't love James Potter. He was fucking James Potter of all people. She hated him, she hated all of him. She hated how he made her feel, how he could change her mood from morose to overfilling with joy in two seconds. How she'd stayed up for five nights when he was in the hospital, terrified that he was going to die and begging for him to wake up. She hated how much power he had over her, how he was completely in control of her emotions and her mood, and how empty she'd feel if he were gone, how lonely. Oh my God. She loved him. No, not love. Not love yet. She liked him though, she liked him more than she'd ever liked anyone before. Was that why she'd been so determined to always push him away? Stop it Lily, stop thinking about this. She was so wrapped up in her inner monologue that she didn't notice that Potter had restarted the car until he did. They were rolling silently down the road again, passing all sorts of little houses with little lawns and little families and...why was she thinking like this. It was all Potter, he got in her head and messed with her brain. 'You're an asshole, you know that?' His eyes flashed as he turned his head to speak to her,  
'You know what Evans, I just bared my heart to you. If you could wait for just a day before cutting into me I'd appreciate it.'  
'No, I won't.' He jerked his head back to the road, the tension taught in his shoulders. 'I won't, because you drop all of this on me and expect me to be ok with it. You expect me to be able to deal with all of this when all you do is confuse me.'  
'I confuse you? I think I've been pretty bloody clear.'  
'You confuse me because I hate you. I really hate you.' He turned his head so she wouldn't see the tears that were staring to leak from the corners of his eyes. Goodness knows he'd already spent far too many nights crying over her. She didn't see the tears however, and just continued, 'I hate your stupid hair, and your stupid grin, and your stupid eyes, and your stupid sense of humour. I hate that you get me all worked up and then make me laugh. I hate that you can do anything, anything you like and I'll still find a way to be at your side. Why are we always together? I hate how you're stupidly sweet and sensitive and how you've made me look like a bloody fool because I've been blind and horrible to you. I hate how amazing your friends are and how being away from you does weird things to me.' The car slowed to a stop, as Potter parked at a gas station and turned to her, 'What are you saying?' he asked, and when she saw the tears on his face, Lily broke.  
'I'm saying I kind of think I've always been in love with you. And that I repressed it for some unknown reason.' His eyes searched hers, not quite believing the words that he knew he was hearing, 'I'm sorry, can you repeat that.' She blushed,  
'You heard me you prat.'  
'I know,' his smile started growing as he took his hand from the steering wheel and used it to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear. She shivered, 'But I'd like to hear it again please, and again and again after that.' Wrapping her arms around his stupid, wonderful hair, Lily pressed her mouth to his and told him again and again how much she hated him, which was not at all.  


**Author's Note:**

> Hello beautiful people! Thank you so much for reaching the end of this story and bearing with me through all the faults. yes I know nothing about computers, would the USB thing work? Probably not. But anyway, thank you for reading, and if you liked it it would be wonderful if you could comment or just read it again :) Sorry for the excessive swearing by the way. It was perhaps a bit too fucking much.
> 
> Also, despite the poetry that flows from my fingers, I am not JKR (I know, I had some of you fooled), therefore I own absolutely nothing. Fun times.


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